opening weekend

The 2026 racing season at Colonial Downs in New Kent, Virginia, kicks off Thursday, June 25, with no fewer than 22 turf races scheduled across the weekend on the Secretariat Turf Course. Featured on opening weekend are a pair of Virginia-restricted turf stakes on Saturday: the Brookmeade Stakes for older fillies and mares and the Edward P. Evans Stakes for males three year old and up, each contested over a mile and a sixteenth. An all-steeplechase program is set for Monday, June 29, beginning at 10:45 a.m. ET and includes...

A full slate of entertainment and family-friendly events are set for the July 4th Racing Festival, which will be held Friday, July 3 through Sunday, July 5, and serve as Opening Weekend of the summer meet at Saratoga Race Course, the New York Racing Association, Inc. (NYRA) announced Thursday. Saratoga's Opening Weekend festivities will align with the nationwide celebration commemorating the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. "Opening Weekend at Saratoga Race Course is one of the most anticipated events of the summer in New York, and...

Several runners being pointed to opening weekend stakes turned in works Sunday morning over the fast main track. Dixiana Farms' homebred Hayes Strike (Connect) along with Mendelssohns March (Mendelssohn), owned by Harold Lerner, Nehoc Stables, AWC Stables and Team Stallion Racing Stable, tuned up for expected starts in Saturday's GI Toyota Blue Grass S. by working 5 furlongs in 1:00.60 in company together. Hayes Strike comes into the 1 1/8-mile Blue Grass off a victory in the Private Terms S. at Laurel March 18. "I don't run many horses in...

Over 12,000 people passed through the gates of SNAI San Siro Racetrack in Italy over the weekend, as the citizens of Milan celebrated the opening of the Flat season. The course played host to over 4,000 guests on Saturday and more than 8,000 plus on Sunday. Both the Listed Premio Natale de Roma and the Listed Premio Ciro Massimo were held on Sunday and were won by Vis A Vis (Ity) (Mujahid) and Flag's Up (Ire) (War Command), respectively. During the two-day stand, the course held many free initiatives for...